Controlling Fluids in your shop (coolant, oil, etc)

[Ryan87LX]

I changed the coolant in my Mustang today, and as expected, made a HUGE mess of my garage. You know how it is, the odd dribble here, spill over there, it runs behind the lawnmower, etc, etc.

I'd love to hear what others do to control their used fluids in their shops.

What do you use for used oil containers?

Do you separate trans fluid?

Do you flush coolant? What do you collect it in?

I thought this could be a really useful thread for many of us here.

Thanks,

Ryan

[the intimidator]

I usually use cat litter containers they hold abought 4 litres of oil (bought a gallon i believe) I just take them to the hazordis waste place and they take it all for free. I dont usually do much in the way of tranny work but at the shop I was at we used to just dump everything into a oil tank tranny fluid, diff fluid, break fluid, coolant ect I guess they seperate it all when they proccess it?

[Jay H 237]

I collect the oil in the used 1 gallon oil jugs in addition to used windshield washer jugs.

The antifreeze is collected in the used antifreeze jugs.

I don't do trannys, at least not yet, so I haven't run into that problem.

My local dump accepts oil and antifreeze for free as long as you're a resident of the town.

[eschoendorff]

We have a bunch of leftover "puppy training pads" from when our dog was being house broken. If I am gonna be changing out a waterpump or doing something messy, I put a couple of those under the catch container. It's like having a big diaper for the garage. Works well so far...

[bmwpower]

I'm thinking of getting these mats:

http://www.newpig.com/en_US/main.jhtml?productId=MAT203&ppanalysis=I-2LHBPIGGRAYUNIVERSALMATPADS&page=browse/pp.jhtml

And these to contain liquids from traveling too far:

http://www.newpig.com/en_US/main.jhtml?productId=404&ppanalysis=I-2LHBPIGMROSOCKS&page=browse/pp.jhtml

I've used them before in previous jobs and they work wonders.

I collect all my fluids in 5 gallon buckets. Oil and ATF go in the same bucket - coolant in another. I go through so much that the 5 gallon buckets are easier to handle than a bunch of gallon jugs.

[kartracer55]

For anti-freeze, easiest thing is to just hose it all down and it pretty much evaporates away. As long as you dilute it enough animals should be safe.

Kitty litter/oil-sorb works wonders. I honestly dont like pig-mats. They dont soak up spills fast enough. For a slow drip, they are great because they hold so much fluid but they take a VERY long time to soak things up. Pretty much ineffective for anti-freeze messes because it just splashes and beads off of them.

On another note, dont mix brake-fluid with oil. The brake fluid will contaminate the oil making it useless (or much more difficult) to recycle, or so I was instructed.

Jim

[mb190sl]

Be careful keeping motor oil in a milk jug. I had a gallon sitting for several months, ready to take back to Auto Zone. Went out in the garage one day to find most of the oil had leaked down the work bench and all over the floor. Over time, the oil will react with the plastic and weaken it.

[AndrewM]

Buddy of mine recently gave me some 5 gallon donut frosting buckets with lids. They're nice (they're square and the plastic is very heavy). He didn't want me disposing of my oil at his place using quart bottles any more. Last time I brought him 35 gallons... mostly in quarts. He told me (without looking) "yeah, just pull your truck around to the side and unload, I'll dump them out in a little bit". So I did. He said it took him almost an hour to dump 'em all (3 years worth, for me). :D

(and I have had several milk jugs rot on me as well with oil or ATF, I only use them for water now)

[mikeatrpi]

I was asked not to use bleach containers for oil. The guy I take my oil to said it would contaminate his whole lot and the recyclers wouldn't take it.

[Blacknwhitepit]

These are a bit expensive, but there are much lower priced models available that are not Snap on.

COOLANT:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=70993&group_ID=19864&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog


TRANSMISSION:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&tool=all&item_ID=72676&group_ID=18158&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog



-BWP

[Ryan87LX]

Wow. One of those would certainly qualify you for having 'every possible tool under the sun' lol.

[kartracer55]

I use a trans fluid exchange machine similar to that at work. Definetly makes things alot neater. Drop the pan and you have maybe 1/2 a quart at most of fluid still in it. Easy to contain, Ill wind up with only a few drips on the floor. However 2,500 is a BIT much for me hahaha

Jim

[Blacknwhitepit]

OK.

For the budget concious:


TRANSMISSION:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93019

OIL:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=45155

COOLANT:

http://www.etoolcart.com/browseproducts/TransPorter-----T-0012-TP.html

The coolant one was once at HF, for $80.00 but I cannot find it anymore. I have one and it works great. Hook up your Air line to it and it sucks all the fluid out of transmissions, oil pans and radiators. Only problem is that if you use it for more than one of these applications, you have to thoroughly clean it or you will contaminate your fluids.

-BWP

[TNToy]

We go through a lot of antifreeze at work. I'm collecting empty jugs, rinsing them out, and taking them home for when the garage is finished. I like having a whole bunch of the same container lined up, instead of a trillion different ones scattered about. Just write the actual contents down the side with a sharpie.

That "Fresh Step" litter they advertise on TV is what we actually use in our cat's litter boxes. 35 pounds of it costs over $20 (it's worth it not to SMELL the litter box) but it comes in a square-ish jug about the size of a 5 gallon bucket that's very heavy duty.

That container gets refilled with crappy litter (It's $3 for a 25 pound bag of 'special kitty' at WalMart, FYI) and stuck out into the shop for fluid spills. They also work good for bulk storage of heavy non-fluid items. ;)

[ZRX61]

I have 2 VP Racing Fuel 55gal drums out behind the garage, one of em is full & the other has about 10 gallons in it.... In the garage I have 2 13 gal drums, one Elf Race Fuel & the other is Nutec. When they get full I take em out back & pump the oil into the 55gal drums..

No idea what I'll do when the 2nd 55gal drum is full.. but there are about 400 abandoned mines around here... & if the US Govt can use Nevada for nuclear waste then I guess I can recycle the oil back whence it came in California...

[TNToy]

I guess it's too much work to take the smaller jugs in to AutoZone and actually get them recycled, huh? :twak:

[eschoendorff]

I guess it's too much work to take the smaller jugs in to AutoZone and actually get them recycled, huh? :twak:
Nope. That's what I do. And one of the local garages will recycle my antifreeze for $1 a gallon. I figure the environment is worth the buck...

[Coach James]

I drain my oil into a 1 gallon bucket then transfer it into a 5 gallon carboy. When that's full, I take it to Autozone/Advance Auto for recycling. Anti-freeze goes to the collection center at the landfill.
Coach

[Down Under Bloke]

I think it’s like most things the more you practice, the less you miss.

I recently found a cure for the smell of gearbox and differential oil, synthetic gear oil. Yep it costs heaps but it smells less, is easer to pump in (as it’s thinner) and seems to run down your arm less. I used it in a little 1.3lt 4WD Suzuki and believe that being thinner it caused less drag and increased performance.
:lol_hitti :lol_hitti

[mike944]

How about just a 5 gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid? Easy to pour into without making a mess.

I've tried just about everything under the sun. For my primairy car, i buy my oil in gallon containers, so the used oil goes back into them. Also as others have mentioned, the gallon-sized kitty litter containers with screw-on caps seem to work well, but unless you have a cat, you're not likely to have those laying around. Milk jugs are a no-no, but they work short-term in a pinch. Short term only, i just had one sitting around for a while leak out half it's contents on the garage floor. Not fun cleaning that up! Old coolant containers work too, but make sure you mark it oil......I accidentally poured a small amount into a cooling system once. About half a cup came out before i could realize what was happening, and tip the jug back up. That wasn't fun flushing that cooling system back out.......

Our town recycling truck comes and picks up used oil with the rest of our recycling every week, but they want it in screw-top containers only, 1 gallon max per week.

I suppose it depends on how you get rid of your used oil that would dictate the best containers to store it in.


I've never heard that brake fluid shouldn't be mixed with oil. I tend to mix all of the oily fluids into one container. the only one i keep separate is coolant (obviously) What do you all do with brake fluid then?

[Canadian Charlie]

I use the towel method and it seems to be working great after all these years.

First I drain the oil pan or whatever,
Go to do something else
Trip over the oil container
Watch the oil spread around
Search for a shower towel
Throw it on the oil
Soak up the oil
Throw out towel



Works great

[amwalker]

I dump used brake/clutch fluid into a plastic bin with kitty litter, it usually evaporates within a few days. All oils get mixed together in a 5 gallon fire fighting foam container (it corrodes brass, so a little oil doesn't mess with the plastic) and dumped at the local dump when it gets full, about every 2 weeks the way my friends with their DSM's change their oil and transaxle fluid.

As for coolant, it gets stored in emptied coolant containers and dumped at the base recycling center, no shops or stores that I've found in south GA take used coolant.

[78jeepstang]

I just keep a couple of cheap Walmart special 5 gallon gas cans around for fluids -- one for used oil, one for antifreeze, etc. When they get full, they go to the waste oil tank at our recycling center.

What I do to 'control' the mess that works well when i'm doing a radiator/water pump / whatever is to take a BIG under-the-bed sweater box and put it under the front of my Jeep to catch all the drips. I managed to find one that basically fits under the entire front end -- tire to tire, firewall to front, and it takes care of the inevitable river of antifreeze.

Plus, that sweater box works well as a nice huge washbasin when I get all crazy about it and clean my tools up.

[BillK]

Thought I would chime in on this .... if you have an automotive machine shop local, see what they do with the containers that thier honing oil comes in. I have been using them for used oil and coolant for quite a while now. 5 gal size Sunnen honing oil jug works great and its easy to pour it out at the recylcling center.

[Phatsub]

I use something similar to this.
http://www.blitzusa.com/products/oil/Oil%20Drains%20and%20Pans/images/11896%206%20Quart%20Oil%20Drain.jpg

I take it to Autozone after each change. I wipe up any spills with old shop towels.

[-lecroix-]

Oil Dry ... a broom ... a dust pan ... a garbage pail ...

[Charles (in GA)]

I usually use cat litter containers they hold abought 4 litres of oil (bought a gallon i believe) I just take them to the hazordis waste place and they take it all for free. I dont usually do much in the way of tranny work but at the shop I was at we used to just dump everything into a oil tank tranny fluid, diff fluid, break fluid, coolant ect I guess they seperate it all when they proccess it?

While oils such as motor oil, gear lube, ATF lube, tractor hydraulic oil, all can be mixed, do not put antifreeze or brake fluid in with it. With all of the oil based stuff it is considered "Used Oil" and easily handled by the recyclers. Adding even tiny amounts of brake fluid or antifreeze contaminates the oil and will show up when the recycler tests the batch. It then becomes classified as "Waste Oil" (meaning Hazardous Waste) and cost alot more to dispose of for the recyclers.

Charles

[Charles (in GA)]

I have a Biltz drip pan off to one side of the shop and this is where I keep gallon jugs that I dump the used oil in. I do all of my pouring and storing of the oil on this pan, and nothing ends up on the concrete. I also have a 5 gal bucket on it that I turn up my oil drain pans on to drip out after I empty them. Local auto parts places take up to four gallons of oil a day so ocassionally I put some jugs in a box in the back of the truck and swing by and dump them.

I'm considering a used oil fueled heater for the shop and if I do, it will have a 250 or 300 gal tank with a drain board on top of it just for pouring oil in and a place for drain pans and filters to drip out. Cannot quite seem to get off the money right now, though.

Charles

[bmwpower]

While oils such as motor oil, gear lube, ATF lube, tractor hydraulic oil, all can be mixed, do not put antifreeze or brake fluid in with it. With all of the oil based stuff it is considered "Used Oil" and easily handled by the recyclers. Adding even tiny amounts of brake fluid or antifreeze contaminates the oil and will show up when the recycler tests the batch. It then becomes classified as "Waste Oil" (meaning Hazardous Waste) and cost alot more to dispose of for the recyclers.

Charles

Strange. I've been told by my township recyclers that I should just dump the brake fluid in with the oil. I used to separate them, but one day the guy just dumped them into the oil tank saying they didn't need to be separated...go figure.

[imported_banzaitoyota]

Our county has used oil collection tanks at the recycling/waste collection dumpsters. They are provided by the regional electric cooperative. They burn the used oil in their Electric Generating plants.

Reference link:
http://www.scdhec.net/recycle/html/oil.html